Jobs in 2019: Average hiring volume to increase to 31 pct; BFSI, IT, retail to create most opportunities

New Year is expected to bring good news for job-seekers as the average hiring volume is likely to increase to 31 per cent, Ketan Kapoor, CEO, Mercer-Mettl told Zee Business Online. Kapoor believes that BFSI, IT and retail will create most job opportunities in the coming year. In BFSI sector, around 42% of companies will hire more than 500+ employees in 2019. And, in IT sector, 33% of organizations will hire around 500+ employees. 

"Well, good news for job-seekers, there will be an increase in average hiring volume from 25% in 2018 to 31% in 2019," he said while adding that hiring will be a trend in all key sectors like Technology, BFSI, Healthcare, Manufacturing and Retail. Business Operations, Sales and Technology are expected to be functions in high demand. 

"Organizations, globally, are wizening up to this fact and increasingly looking for talent that is Learning Agile and can continue to perform and keep with the changing job role demands in the present and future. Learning Agility will be the second most in-demand skill for Organizations during Hiring in 2019," Kapoor said. 

Zairus Master, CEO, Shine.com, said that 2019 will also witness demand for professionals with evolved, tech-led skillsets.

"With cutting-edge technologies like AI and machine learning becoming more and more integral to business operations in the IT/ITES sector, the demand for professionals with evolved, tech-led skillsets will only increase further in 2019. Expertise in areas such as data compliance and cybersecurity will also be much sought-after, given how critical data privacy and information security have become in the global business discourse," he said. 

Master believes that organisations will also collaborate with online learning platforms to undertake large-scale upskilling and reskilling of their in-house talent. He added that this approach will help both the employers as well as the employees. 

"While recruiters will be able to seamlessly address the growing demand for skills within their organisations, professionals can access significantly better career opportunities by upgrading their existing skillsets. With rapid technological advancement paving the way for a high-growth, high-value jobs ecosystem, we can expect continuous learning, unlearning, and relearning to become the motto of the new-age workforce," he said.